Broken Road
by lucawindmover
Summary: After the death of their father, the Winchester brothers are struggling to figure out the truth of what happened to their family. In the meantime, survivor-turned-hunters start showing up on Bobby's doorstep, people the boys had saved in the previous year. It's said that all hunters have their reasons for following the broken road… (A/N: multiple pairings, AU during S2)


Broken Road

By Lucawindmover

"_Hello, good morning, how you do?_

_Yesterday left my head kicked in._

_I never, never thought that_

_I would fall like that._

_Never knew that I could hurt this bad."_

_~Switchfoot_

* * *

Chapter One: Learning to Breath

Sam Winchester groaned at the sound of his phone vibrating on the floor beside him. He raised his head from the jacket that was serving as his pillow and squinted at the clock on the wall. It was light enough for him to see it so he assumed it was past dawn but he couldn't quite get his eyes to focus. He hadn't slept well in longer than he could remember and it hadn't gotten any better since his father's death a week ago. Too many nights of too little sleep was starting to catch up with him. He grabbed the phone and checked the number, finding it to be an unfamiliar one. Just as the call was about to go to voicemail he flipped the phone open and answered it.

"Hello?" he croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello?"

"Is this Sam Winchester?"

"This is Sam's phone," he answered, pushing himself up on his elbow. He glanced over to the sofa and found that his brother, Dean, must already be up and about. "What can I do for you?"

"This is Haley."

"Haley?" Sam repeated. He pushed himself all the way to sitting and glanced around. Bobby was asleep at the desk with his head on his arms. A large book of some sort was nestled underneath.

"Yeah, Haley Collins? You guys saved me and my brothers from a wendigo last year."

Sam rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand. "Right, Haley. Sorry, it's early."

"Um, sorry about that."

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked, standing and moving to the window. He pushed the curtain back a little and peered out. The sun was certainly up but it couldn't have been for long.

"Oh yeah. I mean, no more wendigos chasing us," she answered. "But you know, I'm actually in the neighborhood and I was wondering if you could meet me for breakfast."

"In the neighborhood? Wait, how do you even know where we are?"

Sam could hear her scoff. "You're in Sioux Falls, are you not? Bobby Singer's place?"

"Okay, mind telling me what's going on here?" he responded, annoyed.

Haley sighed. "At breakfast?"

"Yeah, okay," he said, reluctantly. "Do you know where the diner is?"

"I'm sitting there now," she answered.

Sam frowned. "We'll be there in fifteen."

"Wait!"

He sighed. "What?"

Haley hesitated. "Can you come without Dean?"

"What? Why?"

"You can ask Dean about that. I'll see you in fifteen."

With that, the line went dead and Sam was left with more questions than answers.

Sam grabbed his jacket off the floor and a set of keys off of Bobby's desk. He made his way through the house and out the back door where he found Dean.

His brother was half under the Impala, trying his damnedest to get the car back to its original condition. With nothing else to do for the time being, Dean had used nearly every waking moment of the last week to work on the car.

"Hey," Sam called, letting the screen door slam behind him.

Dean rolled himself out from under the car and sat up. Even though it was just past dawn he had already managed to work up a sweat. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, capturing the moisture there and leaving a faint smudge of motor oil. "Hey," he said. "What's up?"

Sam tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and leaned back against the door. "I just got a phone call. You'll never guess who it was."

Dean waited for him to continue. After a moment he rolled his eyes. "You just said I'd never guess so why are you waiting for me to say something?"

Sam sighed. "It was Haley Collins. The girl with the wendigo issue about a year back?"

"Really?" Dean said. He reached over to his toolbox and grabbed a work towel. "What did she want?" he asked as he wiped his hands on the cloth.

"She wants me to meet her for breakfast at the diner, believe it or not."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "The diner here? How did she know where we are?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. That's something I hope to find out." He watched as his brother stood and tossed the dirty cloth on top of a stack of other dirty towels. "She asked me to come alone. I asked her why and she said to ask you about that."

Dean grabbed a bottle of beer out of a cooler by the back door. He twisted the cap off and took a long chug before sitting on the cooler.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Do you have any idea why she wouldn't want to see you?"

Dean pursed his lips for a second, thinking. "Oh," he said with a look of recognition on his face. "It's probably the number thing."

"What number thing?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "I gave her a fake number when we left."

Sam sighed. "Why would you do that?"

"Sam, please," Dean said, taking another gulp of his beer. "I don't give chicks my number."

"What are you talking about? You give numbers out all the time," Sam said. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms.

"Aha," Dean countered, pointing a finger to the sky. "Fake numbers. I give out fake numbers all the time. I can't afford for one of these girls to be able to track me down. You know," he said, blushing a little and shrugging his shoulders. "Just in case."

Sam laughed. "In case they hold a grudge?"

Dean shrugged again and chugged the rest of his beer. "You can never be too careful, Sammy."

Sam shook his head and turned in the direction of a derelict van. "I'll be back later then."

Behind him, Dean tossed his empty bottle in a bucket of other empty bottles and cans and went back to work on his baby.

* * *

Haley Collins couldn't help but tap her fingers on the sticky diner table as she waited for what felt like an eternity. She had already ordered bacon, eggs, and coffee, mostly to keep the waitress busy.

When the bells over the door rang, announcing another patron, Haley glanced up and was disappointed to see that it was just an elderly couple. They waved to the hostess behind the counter and seated themselves at the bar. Haley had positioned herself toward the back of the diner, making sure she could see the door from where she sat. She frowned and glanced down at an impatient text from her younger brother, Ben.

She was startled when Sam Winchester slid into the booth across from her.

"Whoa," she said with a sheepish grin. "I didn't even hear you come in."

Sam shrugged. "Moving undetected, part of the job."

Haley nodded. "Hey, so I heard about your dad. I'm sorry for your loss."

"You sure seem to have a lot of information these days," Sam said, frowning. "You mind telling me how you came to find us. And how do you know about my dad?"

Haley sighed. "You might want to order first," she said, motioning for the waitress to come over. "It's going to be a long story."

Sam nodded and gave the waitress an order for pancakes, hash browns, and coffee. After she left, he gestured for her to start. "You have my full attention."

After the Winchesters left over a year ago, Haley found herself with a very traumatized older brother to take care of. Once he was out of the hospital, Tommy didn't seem like himself. Haley couldn't blame him. He'd had to watch as two of his closest friends were eaten by a monster. That sort of thing stays with a person. Over the course of a couple of weeks, Haley watched as he fell into a deep depression. He didn't seem to know where he was half of the time. He couldn't remember to shower or eat. He had accidents in his bed. In less than a month he had deteriorated to the extent that Haley had to have him committed to an extended care psychiatric ward.

While dealing with her mentally incompetent older brother, she was also dealing with a very persistent younger brother who wanted nothing more than to go out and find more monsters to fight. Haley did everything she could to dissuade Ben from digging up more information on wendigos and the like, but found it was nearly impossible. She had to admit that she was fighting the urge herself, but she knew nothing good would come of it. She finally told him that she didn't care what he looked up in books as long as he continued to get good grades in school. He was a junior this year and she wanted to feel like she was doing right by him in making him go.

In the middle of all of this, they had another visitor. A young man, probably mid-twenties by the look of him, showed up on their front porch one afternoon. He presented a badge and claimed to be a federal agent wanting to ask them a few questions about their bear attack. Haley let him in but after a few questions that probed a little too close to the truth, she called him out for what he was. Another hunter.

The guy confessed and dropped the act. His name was Jordy Caldwell. He'd heard about the attacks and thought that maybe a wendigo was involved. Haley told him the story of what had happened.

Jordy knew about the Winchesters. Their father had made a name for himself and a lot of hunters knew the boys too.

They spent the whole evening and into the night talking about the life. Haley found herself more and more interested in the other things that went bump in the night. She was stunned to find that so many of the legends were true. Hauntings, werewolves, vampires. Ben was enraptured, asking Jordy question after question. He wanted to know how to track werewolves, how to kill vampires, how to banish vengeful spirits. Everything Jordy said was quickly recorded by Ben into a notebook he'd brought down from his room.

Haley offered Jordy a place to stay for a few nights. He accepted.

The next few weeks were a strange coexistence. It was during this time that Haley had to put Tommy in the long term care home. She could no longer work her waitressing job, take care of Ben, and take care of him.

Not to mention, work the jobs.

After only a few days of staying with the Collins', Jordy asked Haley if she'd mind helping him with a local haunting. It wasn't a dangerous job, just a benign ghost that hadn't moved on after a house fire. She decided to go with him and was hooked. She loved the rush, loved the feeling of danger. She also loved helping people. She instantly connected with the victims, having been one herself.

She also found herself having feelings for Jordy after a bit. He wasn't much taller than her, with spikey blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He had the haughty swagger of hunter and oozed confidence.

He stayed with them for three weeks total before he moved on. It was only the last couple of nights that they shared a bed. He left them with a few numbers, all of which ended up being fake. One night he was there, the next he was gone. Haley tried not to let herself be torn up about it, but it was hard.

Ben was driving her crazy to hunt by this point. Haley knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep him home much longer. So she made a deal with him. If he could finish school and graduate, he could come hunting with her. Because at this point she had totally decided to continue hunting. She couldn't go back to her simple life. She knew what was out there now and she had fought it. There was just no going back from that.

What she hadn't expected was for Ben to take her to her word the way he did. He signed up for extra classes, night classes, online classes. He took anything and everything he could to make sure he would graduate a year early. While managing all those classes, and getting top grades, he did research for her. She would leave for a week or two every couple of months to work a job and he would be her go-to. If she had a question about lore or methods of taking out one thing or another, Ben was on it. It was the only way she had managed to keep him at home most of the time. He had a job to do and that at least made him feel like he was contributing.

"So I've made a few contacts in the past year," Haley finished, taking a bite out of her cold eggs. "That's how I found out about your dad and where you guys were holed up."

Sam frowned. "I don't suppose you'll tell me exactly who pointed you in our direction?"

"Oh," she said. "That was Jordy. I ran into him again a few weeks ago. He told me where to find you guys."

Sam pursed his lips. He had no idea who this Jordy guy was or where he had come from. The name Caldwell vaguely rang a bell but he'd have to ask Bobby about it.

The pair ate in silence for a little while, digesting more than just food.

"Well, you say you've been hunting. What have you been up against?" Sam asked, taking a sip of coffee.

Haley counted on her fingers. "Let's see. I've had four hauntings. Three were vengeful spirits and one was a poltergeist. Two cursed objects. One witch."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "I'm kind of impressed actually. You took them all on your own."

"I had Ben on speed dial," she said, shrugging. "But you know, I didn't ask you to breakfast to tell my life story. I actually came to ask a favor."

"Sure. What do you need?" Sam asked.

Haley fidgeted a little. She looked nervous. "Look, you and Dean are the real deal. Bobby Singer is a well-known name in certain circles too. My brother Ben did what I told him to do and graduated. But I don't really want him out there with this stuff, you know? I've tried and tried to get him to go to college and try for a normal life, but he won't have it. He's still so keyed up about what happened to Tommy," she said, sighing. "I know you guys aren't babysitters by any means. But I was wondering if you guys could, I don't know, take us under your wings for a bit. Teach us a little more of the practical side of things."

When Sam didn't answer, Haley continued. "I just don't want my brother to get himself killed because I didn't know enough to keep him safe."

Sam nodded. "Well, I can understand that. But look Haley, we have a lot going on right now."

Haley raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, not at this very minute. But we really don't have time to play teacher."

She sighed. "What about Bobby? You think he could use an extra couple of hands around his junk yard? A couple of people who might also cook and clean and pump him for information in their spare time?" Haley gave him her best hopeful look.

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. He shook his head, smiling. "You try that on Bobby yourself and see what he says. I can't make any promises but I can at least take you to see him."

Haley grinned. "Thanks Sam."

He shook his head again. "Oh," he said, suddenly remembering. "Why was it you didn't want Dean to come?"

Haley's grin slipped. "I'm still mad at him."

"For?"

She crossed her arms and frowned. "Giving me a fake number. I'm gonna rip him a new one when I see him."

* * *

When Dean heard Sam pull back up to the front of the house, he didn't bother to greet him. He figured that Sam would make a bee-line through the house anyway. Besides, he was elbow deep in fixing his carburetor.

Dean had spent the last hour working on his baby and contemplating how in the world a girl like Haley had been able to catch up with them. He had loved-and-left quite a few girls in his day. But he didn't recall so much as kissing this one. Back then Sam had been so intent on finding their father that he didn't leave Dean much leeway for liaisons.

He was still thinking about this when the backdoor slammed and caused Dean to jump, banging his head on the hood of the Impala.

"Jesus! What the hell?" he shouted, backing up to look over the hood. He was surprised to see a girl standing there rather than his brother. She was in tattered jeans and a dark blue tank top. The jacket she wore black and looked like it had seen better days. Her dark hair was pulled back away from her face. Her expressive blue eyes were full of loathing for him. That made him feel instantly defensive. He couldn't help it.

Haley cocked an eyebrow. "That's your greeting?"

Dean frowned and rubbed the top of his head. "Yes. You're damn _right_ it is when you go around slamming doors like that."

She just smirked and walked over to lean on the side of the car.

Dean glared at her for a minute before going back to what he was doing.

Haley let the silence hang for a bit.

"What are you doing here?" Dean called from under the hood. He wasn't good with confrontation with females, regardless of what he let Sam think. He could feel his face getting warm with embarrassment. Luckily, it was already sweaty and greasy from working on the car and wouldn't likely be noticed.

"Ben and me have been hunting for the last year. Couldn't go back after what happened in the woods. I had to have Tommy committed," she said.

"Hunting?"

Haley laughed. "Is that so hard to believe? We held our own pretty good with the wendigo."

Dean couldn't deny that so he didn't answer. He finished loosening the bolt he was working on and stepped back, holding a piece of his precious car in his hands. "You still didn't answer the question."

Haley was frowning when he glanced at her before turning to his workbench.

"I haven't actually let Ben come with me yet. I was making him finish school first. He's been busy on the research end. But he's graduated now and intent on helping. I was hoping you and Sam could give us a little more practical knowledge so he doesn't get himself killed."

Dean turned to face her, leaning back on the workbench. "So what, we're babysitters now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry your precious head about that. Sam brought me to talk to Bobby. He's gonna let us stay here for a bit, with a few conditions of course."

"Oh, of course," Dean said sarcastically. He wasn't sure why he was letting her rub him the wrong way. The two of them had gotten along just fine the last time he'd seen her. Now it seemed as if they were walking a fine line between being civil and tearing each other's heads off.

"What is your problem, huh?" Haley asked. She pushed herself away from the car and crossed her arms, moving toward him. "You pissed because I was able to find you even though you gave me a fake number?"

"Speaking of which, how _did_ you find us?" Dean asked. He leaned down and opened his cooler, pulling out another beer and cracking it open.

"I already explained that to Sam. Take it up with him."

"I'm taking it up with you."

"The hell you are," Haley said, narrowing her eyes. "I'll be damned if you take anything up with me." She stalked back toward the back door, turning at the last minute to glare at him. "If you treat girls half as well as you treat your damn car I can imagine I'm not the only one pissed at you."

With that, she disappeared into the house.

"Goddam it!" Dean threw his beer bottle at the back door, immediately regretting it. For a moment he thought about stalking off. Then he realized she was in the only place he had left to stalk off to.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural and I make no money from my stories. I just really enjoy tormenting the wonderful characters that have been provided for us. I also don't own the lyrics to "Learning to Breathe" by Switchfoot.


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